Strike a Pose
by SageK
Summary: When Danny has an assignment for photography class, he asks Isaac to model for him. A Birthday fic for Emily @purplehoodiesandleatherjackets


When Danny signed up for a photography elective, he'd thought it would be an easy A. After all he, like every teen, had grown up taking tons of pictures on his smartphone. It was supposed to be one of those laid back senior year courses that really didn't require any effort to ace.

He hadn't counted on the teacher taking the class so seriously. They'd spent weeks studying cameras, types of films, learning to develop film, using light meters, fiddling with aperture and shutter speeds and taking test photos before they'd been allowed to choose their own subject matter.

Their first round of photos had been torn apart as 'uninspired and insipid'. "Since clearly none of you know how to choose a subject," Ms. Huxley sneered, flicking a photo one girl had taken of her cat. Danny thought it was a cute cat. "I'll give you philistines some much needed direction. Your next assignment will be to photograph someone and try to make them look like classical art come to life."

Sure, like that wasn't going to be hard.

Danny had been brooding on the concept when he made his way to the locker room. Classical art? That covered so many things and he wasn't sure how….

Nearby, Isaac was changing into his warm up gear, lots of smooth, pale skin on display. Danny wasn't a letch, so he didn't tend to stare at other guys in the locker room, but he couldn't help but notice certain things.

Like the line of Isaac's jaw, those cheekbones that could cut glass and long, dark lashes….

"Hey, Isaac, can I ask you for a favor?"

Wide blue eyes turned to regard him in surprise. "Okay," Isaac replied, a little hesitantly, eyes darting to the left for a moment. When Danny followed his gaze, he caught Scott nodding encouragingly and Stiles rolling his eyes.

Why did cute guys always have so much weird baggage?

"I have to photograph someone for class" Danny told Isaac, tapping the camera on his locker shelf. "Would you consider posing for me?"

If possible, Isaac's eyes got wider. "Me?"

"Yeah, why him?" Stiles said, popping over to Danny's side. "Honestly, Danny, I'm hurt that I wasn't your first choice."

Now it was Danny's turn to roll his eyes. "As if you could sit still long enough to pose for a good picture."

Scott chuckled and shrugged, amused. "He's got you there."

While Stiles grumbled, Isaac shifted a little uneasily, but gave Danny a nod. "Yeah, sure."

Not exactly enthusiasm, but hey, it was an odd request.

* * *

That Saturday, when Isaac arrived at Danny's house, he was not expecting what he saw when he opened the door.

"Stiles told Lydia and she woke me up at 5am," Isaac grumbled. "I don't think she sleeps."

"Well, you look nice," Danny said, because it was true. Lydia had clearly lined Isaac's eyes with some kind of smokey kohl and dusted a barely noticeable eyeshadow on his lids. Mascara further accentuated his eyes and the rest of his face didn't seem to have been targeted by her (his skin was great already). His hair though, that she'd clearly put product in, defining his curls. "How did Lydia get into your room?"

The look of long suffering that Isaac gave him was almost comical. "Stiles let her into Scott's I had to listen to his commentary the whole time she did this," Isaac said, gesturing vaguely at his head as Danny led him through the house and out into the back yard.

It was a warm, lovely day and Danny thought his mom's garden would be a good place to take pictures, the giant rose bushes providing an amazing backdrop.

"So, we're supposed to recreate classical art with our own twist, so I was thinking of doing an interpretation of Michelangelo's David," Danny said, tossing Isaac a lacrosse ball. "But you can hold that instead of whatever David is holding."

Isaac nodded thoughtfully and Danny turned to the table where he had his camera equipment laid out. A minute later, he looked up and froze.

Isaac was shirtless, pale skin glowing like marble in the sun. As Danny gawked, the taller boy shimmied out of his jeans, his boots tucked under the chair, where he soon dropped his jeans. As Isaac reached for his boxer briefs, Danny yelped. "Isaac! This is for a school class!" he said, gaping at the sandy blond. "I didn't mean for this to be a nude photoshoot!"

"Oh," Issac replied, cheeks turning an attractive shade of pink. "Sorry, I just...David is…."

"I'm not objecting to the show of skin because, well….," Danny trailed off an shook his head. "What was I saying?"

For a moment, Isaac looked confused, then he gave Danny a little smile. "Am I distracting you?"

Well, wasn't that interesting.

"Do you want to be distracting?"

Danny could almost see Isaac's brain rolling the request around, like it was something he'd never let himself really think about before. "I think," Isaac said slowly, hands flexing, "I think that depends on who's noticing me."

A smile bloomed on Danny's face. "Pretty sure everyone notices you. I mean, you've seen yourself, right?"

Isaac huffed a little breath. "I think I've gotten pretty good at not being noticed," he said and Danny couldn't argue. Until recently, Isaac's demeanor had, until recently, screamed 'LEAVE ME ALONE!'. Possibly something to do with the rumors Danny had heard about his dad.

"I always noticed you...but I didn't think you'd appreciate the attention," Danny told him honestly, figuring being forthright was the best policy.

Again, Isaac took a moment. "Before...everything changed, you're right. I never could have...He made it clear that some things were not okay, so I just tried to ignore how I felt. About everything, but especially about liking...I've never talked about this," Isaac said and Danny could see his anxiety levels rising. "I don't know how to…."

"Breathe," Danny encouraged with a soft smile. "Relax. No rush. Why don't you put your jeans back on, I'll take some pictures and you can think about what you do and don't want to say and then we can get a coffee."

Isaac blinked at him, then reached for his jeans with a nod. "Sounds good. This is not a conversation to have in my boxers."

* * *

Apparently, Isaac preferred tea to coffee, which Danny found oddly charming. After he'd finished taking photos (he was sure he got more than one that would turn out amazing), they sat on the patio with cups of tea, nibbling on Golden Oreos until Isaac spoke.

"I do like girls," he said, looking down into the sweet, milky tea. "I just like guys too."

His eyes ticked up to Danny, looking unsure, so Danny gave him a smile. "You don't need to choose one or the other, Isaac. Sexuality doesn't always fit into a box," he said easily as he dunked a cookie into his own tea. "Not everyone defines who they like easily."

"Lots of people seem to. You do," Isaac murmured. "Scott and Stiles do."

Danny quirked a brow at Isaac. "Stiles is in bi denial, believe me. If you want a label, use whatever feels right. Just remember, sexuality can be fluid. For me, not so much, I'm not attracted to girls so the line is pretty clear, but that's not always the case."

He got another nod from Isaac. "It's kinda nice to actually talk about this."

"I know."

hr

Danny got top marks on his photography assignment, but even better, he and Isaac became real friends, Before they had been friendly acquaintances, teammates, but now they hung out and texted. It was nice having a friend who didn't have a stake in the cut throat popular clique Danny had always been a part of due to his friendship with Jackson.

Isaac was barely a blip on the social radar of the school, though his looks and spot on the lacrosse team kept hanging out with him from being a negative. The fact that Scott had become more popular in Sophomore year and Lydia had begun hanging around with their group had shaken the social order up a bit, but...high school hierarchy rarely changed.

Currently, a handful of lacrosse players were fighting over some girl and Danny had no time for that drama. Catching a movie with Isaac was a relaxing relief, as Danny could vent about the other boy's silliness.

"They never struck me as the most...reasonable guys on the team," Isaac said with a shrug as they sat on a park bench, chatting after the movie got out. "Too much testosterone and red bull."

"That's not always a bad thing," Danny joked and Isaac gave him one of his cute smirks.

"It is when you don't have the brains or self control to handle the mix of hormones, sugar and caffeine."

"I seem to recall you going through a spell of mood swings and bad behavior a while back," Danny pointed out, wagging a finger at Isaac, who huffed.

The Blond rubbed the back of his neck. "I was going through a rough patch," he agreed. "But at least I wasn't crushing empty cans on my forehead and fighting other guys over a rather boring girl."

Danny quirked a brow at him. "I do remember you beating the crap out of Ethan occasionally."

"That was about something...else," Isaac told him, cheeks flushing. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. You see, there was a reason I never got along with the twins…."

"Something to do with the werewolf thing?" Danny asked, amused at the shocked expression that rolled over Isaac's face. "Oh come on, I have ears. Scott and Stiles are about as subtle as Greenberg's attempts to ingratiate himself with coach."

"You knew?" Isaac squeaked, voice much higher than usual. "How long have you known?"

"I knew something was up when Scott became a lacrosse star overnight, but I didn't put all the pieces together until Jackson 'died' on the pitch," Danny admitted. "Though honestly, I'm a bit fuzzy on some of the details. Something...went wrong with Jackson becoming a werewolf, didn't it?"

Isaac nodded. "Remember the lizard creature a lot of people saw?"

"The one I thought paralyzed me?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, that was Jackson before he became a werewolf. Apparently, that can happen if you have certain identity issues."

Well, Jackson certainly had those. "Huh...what made you want to tell me?"

"I didn't want to have a big secret hanging over my head," Isaac admitted. "Not when I want to tell you things like...that and other….I'm not good at his."

"More of a man of action?" Danny asked with a smile. "I do like action, you know."

Actions definitely spoke louder than words when Isaac leaned over and pressed his lips against Danny's for the first time under the light of the moon.


End file.
